This invention relates generally to fishing tackle holders, and more particularly to a versatile and adjustable fishing tackle holder for attachment to a boat.
Fishing has become a favorite past time of millions of people in the United States and around the world. It is desirable for aiding in the fishing to provide a system which can easily and adjustably carry fishing tackle such that the lines will not tangle when they are extending off the back or the sides of a boat. In one conventional fishing tackle holder disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,789 issued Aug. 8, 1995, to John E. Emory, a mounting assembly was provided that included a channel for slideably receiving a square mounting plate which only allowed for two orientations of the fishing rod, facing straight back or exactly 90xc2x0 to the side. The square mounting plate included a plurality of fasteners for securing the plate in one of two fixed locations within the channel. Various pieces could then be mounted to the mounting plate by a variety of brackets. A disadvantage of these prior art mounting assemblies is that they did not allow rotation of the mounting bracket about an axis which is perpendicular to the channel when the mounting bracket is in the channel, thereby allowing directional pre-determination for the fishing rod. Besides, this prior art design limits the placement of items to be put into the channel relative to the side rail. In addition, the prior art channel designs included a smooth base, which made it difficult to secure the mounting plate in a fixed location relative to the channel.
Besides the above-described prior art design, a wide variety of rod holders have been proposed and placed on the market. The prior art systems may be attached to the gunwale of a boat, or the sides of a boat, and are generally designed to support a single fishing rod. These other prior art assemblies, once they have been mounted at the desired location on a boat, generally permit the angle of inclination of the rod to be adjusted, but in a planer fashion and do not give three-dimensional adjustability. The above-described advancement included adjustability in two directions and was the subject of the Emory patent in which the rod holder can be inclined backward and forward, and to and fro. However, this prior art invention does not give the full range of positioning adjustability which is desirable by modern day fisherman.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a fully adjustable fishing rod holder which can accommodate many different accessories, besides the rod holders, including, but not limited to, down riggers, cup holders, cutting boards, mounting brackets, step pads, stanchion supports, and the like.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting bracket which is adapted for attachment to a round or square railing on a fishing boat or a pontoon boat.
It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide a new fishing rod holder sleeve having a means for holding the fishing rod within the sleeve so that a fish cannot pull the fishing rod out of the fishing rod holder sleeve.
Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a new fishing tackle holder assembly, railing mount, and fishing rod holder which totally fulfill the objects described hereinabove. In general, the present invention is first directed towards a fishing tackle holder for attaching to a boat including an elongated channel piece having a u-shaped or an h-shaped cavity or cavities, and the channel is adapted to be mounted on a boat. A mounting bracket for receiving the fishing tackle therein has a base portion which may be any non-square configuration, but is preferably round or substantially diamond-shaped with rounded corners. The base portion includes at least one fastening mechanism, such as a screw or other mechanism, to fasten the base portion of the mounting bracket within the elongated channel piece. The round shape base portion allows the base to be secured in an infinitely variable configuration with a sweep angle of 360xc2x0. The rounded off diamond shape allows the base portion to be cocked in a number of various directions, such that the side angle of the mounting bracket can xe2x80x9csweepxe2x80x9d from one direction to the other within a 70xc2x0 arc. When these adjustment capabilities are combined with the capability of the fishing rod holder being adjustable in a nearly infinite array of angles from 180xc2x0 backward to forward, this gives a great deal of capability to the fishermen to perfectly angle and predetermine where the fishing rod will end up. The barrel sleeve fishing rod holder is attached to the mounting bracket by a concentric adjuster having adjustment apertures around its circumference. The concentric adjuster is pivotally mounted within the mounting bracket and is secured by various means, as more fully discussed hereinbelow, to affect the adjustment. A lockdown for securing the concentric adjuster is attached to the mounting bracket, and thereby fixes the position of the fishing rod holder assembly.
In anther aspect of the present invention, a mounting bracket is utilized for adapting the channel to a railing on a boat, when no other surfaces are present. The mounting bracket has the capability of being secured to either round railings found on most boats or square railings, such as those found on pontoon boats. There is preferably a flat upper surface with screw holes tapped therein to receive either the adjustable rod holders of the present invention, or permanent angle rod holders of the prior art. Other accessories may be mounted onto the flat surface. The top of the plate may be pre-drilled for universal use by most downriggers and swivel mounting bases of other manufacturers.
In yet still another aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a new type of barrel sleeve for holding the fishing rod holder having eyelets extending outwardly from the circumference of the barrel sleeve, such that a fishing rod can be inserted into the sleeve, and a fishing rod and reel holder, preferably a flexible string, rope, or stretchy cord, is attached to the eyelets and wrapped around the fishing rod itself to be used to hold the reel and rod into the fishing tackle holder.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the various accessories which can be placed into the channel, including cup holders, cutting boards, step pads, tool caddies, fishing hook holders, and the like.